To the flag : the unlikely history of the Pledge of Allegiance by Richard Ellis(
Book
)8
editions published
between
2004
and
2005
in
English
and held by
1,750 WorldCat member
libraries
worldwide
For over one hundred years, it has been deeply ingrained in American culture. Saluting the flag in public schools began as
part of a national effort to Americanize immigrants, its final six words imbuing it with universal hope and breathtaking power.
Now Richard Ellis unfurls the fascinating history of the Pledge of Allegiance and of the debates and controversies that have
sometimes surrounded it. For anyone who has ever recited those thirty-one words, To the Flag provides an unprecedented historical
perspective on recent challenges to the Pledge. As engaging as it is informative, it traces the story from the Pledge's composition
by Francis Bellamy in 1892 up to the Supreme Court's action in 2004 regarding atheist Michael Newdow's objection to the words
"under God". Ellis is especially good at highlighting aspects of this story that might not be familiar to most readers: the
schoolhouse flag movement, the codification of the Pledge at the First National Flag Conference in 1923, changing styles of
salute, and the uses of the Pledge to quell public concerns over sundry strains of radicalism. Created against the backdrop
of rapid immigration, the Pledge has continued for over a century to be injected into American politics at times of heightened
anxiety over the meaning of our national identity. Ellis analyzes the text of the Pledge to tell how the very words "indivisible"
and "allegiance" were intended to invoke Civil War sentiments-and how "with liberty and justice for all" forms a capsule expression
of the American creed. He also examines the introduction of "under God" as an anti-Communist declaration in the 1950s, demonstrating
that the phrase is not mere ceremonial Deism but rather a profound expression of what has been called America's "civil religion."
The Pledge has inspired millions but has also been used to promote conformity and silence dissent-indeed its daily recitation
in schools and legislatures tells us as much about our anxieties as a nation as they do about our highest ideals. Ellis reveals
how, for over a century, those who have been most fearful about threats to our national identity have often been most insistent
on the importance of patriotic rituals. Indeed, by addressing this inescapable paradox of our civic life, Ellis opens a new
and unexpected window on the American soul

American political cultures by Richard Ellis(
Book
)21
editions published
between
1993
and
1996
in
English and Undetermined
and held by
679 WorldCat member
libraries
worldwide
This work challenges the thesis first formulated by de Tocqueville and later systematically developed by Louis Hartz, that
American political culture is characterized by a consensus on liberal capitalist values. Ranging over three hundred years
of history and drawing upon the seminal work anthropologist Mary Douglas, Richard Ellis demonstrates that American history
is best understood as a contest between five rival political cultures: egalitarian community, competitive individualism, hierarchical
collectivism, atomized fatalism, and autonomous hermitude

Debating the presidency : conflicting perspectives on the American executive by Richard Ellis(
Book
)16
editions published
between
2006
and
2018
in
English
and held by
646 WorldCat member
libraries
worldwide
Presidential performance, the Electoral College, and the balance of power between Congress and the president are discussed
in every presidency text. But now you can expose your students to alternate points of view on these critical topics, incisively
argued by todays leading presidential scholars. Moving far beyond a broad synthesis of the literature, this provocative reader
will actively engage your students with conflicting perspectives, inspiring spirited debate beyond the pages of the book.
Each pro and con essay--written in the form of a debate resolution--offers a compelling yet concise view on the most pivotal
issues facing the modern presidency: whether the framers of the Constitution would approve of the modern presidency, the media
scrutinize the president too much, or the president is a better representative of the people than Congress. Ellis and Nelson
introduce each pair of pro/con essays, giving students context and preparing them to read each argument critically, so they
can decide for themselves which side of the debate they find most persuasive

Cultural theory by M Thompson(
Book
)12
editions published
in
1990
in
English
and held by
632 WorldCat member
libraries
worldwide
Intellectually based on the work of anthropologist Mary Douglas, this volume presents a typology of five ways of life - egalitarianism,
fatalism, individualism, hierarchy and autonomy - to serve as an analytic tool in examining people, culture and politics

The dark side of the Left : illiberal Egalitarianism in America by Richard Ellis(
Book
)8
editions published
between
1998
and
1999
in
English
and held by
587 WorldCat member
libraries
worldwide
Why do people who identify themselves as liberal or egalitarian sometimes embrace intolerance or even preach violence? Illiberalism
has come to be expected of the right in this country; its occurrence on the left is more paradoxical but no less real. In
this book, Richard J. Ellis examines the illiberal tendencies that have characterized egalitarian movements throughout American
history, from the radical abolitionists of the 1850s to the New Left activists of the 1960s. He also takes on contemporary
radical feminists like Catharine MacKinnon and radical environmental groups like Earth First to show that, even today, many
of the American left's sacred cows have cloven hooves. He explains how orthodoxy arises within a group from the need to maintain
distance from a society it views as hopelessly corrupt, and how individuals committed to egalitarian causes are particularly
susceptible to illiberalism - even poets like Walt Whitman, who celebrated the common people but often expressed contempt
for their mundane lives. Political correctness, idealizing the oppressed, and an affinity for authoritarian and charismatic
leaders are all parts of what Ellis calls "the dark side of the left."

Presidential travel : the journey from George Washington to George W. Bush by Richard Ellis(
Book
)5
editions published
in
2008
in
English
and held by
397 WorldCat member
libraries
worldwide
"In this first book-length study of the history of presidential travel, Richard Ellis explores how travel has reflected and
shaped the changing relationship between American presidents and the American people. Tracing the evolution of the president
from First Citizen to First Celebrity, he spins a lively narrative that details what happens when our leaders hit the road
to meet the people." "Presidents, Ellis shows, have long placed travel at the service of politics: Rutherford "the Rover"
Hayes visited thirty states and six territories and was the first president to reach the Pacific, while William Howard Taft
logged an average of 30,000 rail miles a year. Unearthing previously untold stories of our peripatetic presidents, Ellis also
reveals when the public started paying for presidential travel, why nineteenth-century presidents never left the country,
and why earlier presidents - such as Andrew Jackson, once punched in the nose on a riverboat - journeyed without protection."
"Ellis marks the fine line between accessibility and safety, from John Quincy Adams skinny-dipping in the Potomac to George
W. clearing brush in Crawford. Particularly important, Ellis notes, is the advent of air travel. While presidents now travel
more widely, they have paradoxically become more remote from the people, as Air Force One flies over towns through which presidential
trains once rumbled to rousing cheers. Designed to close the gap between president and people, travel now dramatizes the distance
that separates the president from the people and reinforces the image of a regal presidency."--Jacket

Judging the Boy Scouts of America : gay rights, freedom of association, and the Dale case by Richard Ellis(
Book
)2
editions published
in
2014
in
English
and held by
333 WorldCat member
libraries
worldwide
"As Americans, we cherish the freedom to associate. However, with the freedom to associate comes the right to exclude those
who do not share our values and goals. What happens when the freedom of association collides with the equally cherished principle
that every individual should be free from invidious discrimination? This is precisely the question posed in Boy Scouts of
America v. James Dale, a lawsuit that made its way through the courts over the course of a decade, culminating in 2000 with
a landmark ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court. In Judging the Boy Scouts of America, Richard J. Ellis tells the fascinating
story of the Dale case, placing it in the context of legal principles and precedents, Scouts policies, gay rights, and the
"culture wars" in American politics. The story begins with James Dale, a nineteen-year old Eagle Scout and assistant scoutmaster
in New Jersey, who came out as a gay man in the summer of 1990. The Boy Scouts, citing their policy that denied membership
to "avowed homosexuals," promptly terminated Dale's membership. Homosexuality, the Boy Scout leadership insisted, violated
the Scouts' pledge to be "morally straight." With the aid of the Lambda Legal Defense Fund, Dale sued for discrimination.
Ellis tracks the case from its initial filing in New Jersey through the final decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in favor
of the Scouts. In addition to examining the legal issues at stake, including the effect of the Supreme Court's ruling on the
law of free association, Ellis also describes Dale's personal journey and its intersection with an evolving gay rights movement.
Throughout he seeks to understand the puzzle of why the Boy Scouts would adopt and adhere to a policy that jeopardized the
organization's iconic place in American culture--and, finally, explores how legal challenges and cultural changes contributed
to the Scouts' historic policy reversal in May 2013 that ended the organization's ban on gay youth (though not gay adults)"--

Politics, policy, and culture by Dennis J Coyle(
Book
)5
editions published
in
1994
in
English
and held by
250 WorldCat member
libraries
worldwide
This new set of original case studies is designed to offer an empirical counterpart to Cultural Theory (Westview, 1990), the
landmark statement of political culture theory authored by Michael Thompson, Richard Ellis, and Aaron Wildavsky, and to extend
and challenge the analysis developed there. Here, the theoretical concepts laid out in that book are operationalized and applied
in textbook fashion to key areas in methodology, public policy, and history. Highlights include essays on risk perception,
environmental regulation, and mental health policies and a never-before-published piece on "Culture, Rationality, and Violence,"
by Sun-Ki Chai and Aaron Wildavsky

Debating reform : conflicting perspectives on how to fix the American political system by Richard Ellis(
Book
)13
editions published
between
2010
and
2017
in
English
and held by
215 WorldCat member
libraries
worldwide
As much as policy topics like abortion and same-sex marriage elicit spirited reactions from your students, aren't you looking
for ways to get them out of their partisan corners? Ellis and Nelson have found that debating concrete proposals for reforming
the political system encourages undergraduates to leave ideology behind and instead sift through competing claims and evidence

Founding the American presidency(
Book
)6
editions published
in
1999
in
English
and held by
206 WorldCat member
libraries
worldwide
At a time when the institution of the presidency seems in a state of almost permanant crisis, it is particularly important
to understand what sort of an institution the framers of the Constitution thought they were creating. Founding the American
Presidency offers a first-hand view of the minds of the founders by bringing together extensive selections from the constitutional
convention in Philadelphia as well as representative selections from the subsequent debates over ratification. Pointed discussion
questions provoke students to consider new perspectives on the presidency. Ideal for all cou

Judging executive power : sixteen Supreme Court cases that have shaped the American presidency(
Book
)4
editions published
in
2009
in
English
and held by
172 WorldCat member
libraries
worldwide
George W. Bush's presidency has helped accelerate a renewed interest in the legal or formal bases of presidential power. It
is now abundantly clear that presidential power is more than the sum of bargaining, character, and rhetoric. Presidential
power also inheres in the Constitution or at least assertions of constitutional powers. Judging Executive Power helps to bring
the Constitution and the courts back into the study of the American presidency by introducing students to sixteen important
SupremeCourt cases that have shaped the power of the American presidency. The cases selected include th

The development of the American presidency by Richard Ellis(
Book
)19
editions published
between
2012
and
2018
in
English
and held by
114 WorldCat member
libraries
worldwide
Our understanding of the politics of the presidency is greatly enhanced by viewing it through a developmental lens, analyzing
how historical turns have shaped the modern institution. The Development of the American Presidency pays great attention to
that historical weight but is organized topically and conceptually with the constitutional origins and political development
of the presidency its central focus. Through comprehensive and in-depth coverage, this text looks at how the presidency has
evolved in relation to the public, to Congress, to the Executive branch, and to the law, showing at every step how different
aspects of the presidency have followed distinct trajectories of change. All the while, Ellis illustrates the institutional
relationships and tensions through stories about particular individuals and specific political conflicts. Ellis's own classroom
pedagogy of promoting active learning and critical thinking is well reflected in these pages. Each chapter begins with a narrative
account of some illustrative puzzle that brings to life a central concept. A wealth of photos, figures, and tables allow for
the visual presentations of concepts. A companion website not only acts as a further resources base - directing students to
primary documents, newspapers, and data sources - but also presents interactive timelines, practice quizzes, and key terms
to help students master the book's lessons